Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook [Facsimile] [Ring-bound]

Betty Crocker (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 9, 1998 | Series: Betty Crocker

It's the book that started it all, the well-loved edition that first bought Betty Crocker cookbooks into American homes and hearts. Published in 1950, this ground-breaking title made cooking easy, it made cooking appealing, and best of all, it made cooking fun. Packed full of practical tips, useful hints, and lavish color photography, this was the book that shaped cooking for generations, the book that people remember. Every recipe you -- or your mother -- ever wanted is here, from pigs in blankets, to Emergency Steak to Chicken Tomato Aspic. Enjoy the clever ideas throughout -- twelve months of birthday cake ideas, showing how to decorate a cake to match each month's gem stone, pointers to make setting up a kitchen easy, or hints to make housework more pleasant. Feel a part of history when making Home Front Macaroni, developed during WW II rationing to stretch meat. Get into the spirit of fun with a Betty Crocker "Cookie Shine" or cookie baking party. People who grew up with this book will want it for the memories; those who are new to the book will want it for its charm and its intelligent approach to cooking. It's a perfect keepsake and a great gift.

Product Details

• Ring-bound: 456 pages
• Publisher: Wiley Publishing; Facsimile Edition edition (November 9, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028627717
• ISBN-13: 978-0028627717
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 2.2 x 10.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (297 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Reference

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

First published in 1950, Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book is now reprinted in all its old-fashioned glory. Betty immerses you in a time when women were homemakers, cakes had at least two layers, and salad was iceberg lettuce. You may hesitate to recreate what your mother or grandmother probably cooked--if so, consider that back then we ate simply, in the days before the word foodie was invented. Many of the recipes suit today's harried lifestyle, as you see in Six Layer Dinner, combining eight cups of vegetables with a pound of ground meat, and Dainty Tea Brownies topped with colorful chopped pistachios.

Hundreds of black-and-white photos, animated drawings, and quaint color spreads of prepared dishes aid you in using the recipes. Beginners learn how to measure ingredients, choose the best economical cuts of meat, and cut up round and sheet cakes for serving. There is even a section on how to set the table. This loose-leaf book contains enough recipes to fill a 12-page, double-column index. Best of all, perhaps, is the "Shortcut" section, where useful tips include cleaning a grater of cheese residue by rubbing it with a piece of stale bread. These are interspersed with 15 ways to recuperate from overwork. One suggestion is to lie down on the kitchen floor on your back and relax for three to five minutes. Still a good idea, though few people have a kitchen large enough to try this. --Dana Jacobi

About the Author

With more than 63 million cookbooks sold since 1950, BETTY CROCKER is the name readers trust for reliable recipes and great ideas. For over 75 years, Betty Crocker has provided advice to millions of Americans through cookbooks, magazines and television.

Product Details

• Ring-bound: 456 pages
• Publisher: Wiley Publishing; Facsimile Edition edition (November 9, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028627717
• ISBN-13: 978-0028627717
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 2.2 x 10.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (297 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Reference

More About the Author

Since 1921, the Betty Crocker name has symbolized the General Mills continuing tradition of service to consumers. Although Betty was never a real person, her name and identity have become synonymous with helpfulness, trustworthiness and quality.

Betty Crocker has survived the decades by providing consumers with food information and food products that are contemporary without being faddish. The first hardcover cookbook, Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook was published in 1950 and quickly became a national best seller. Since then, more than 250 Betty Crocker cookbooks have been published.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

107 of 109 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the first cookbook I recommend May 7, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Ring-bound

I am thrilled that Betty Crocker has re-issued this cookbook. My mother received a copy back in 1956 as a wedding present and it is the one I learned to cook from. I still use it more than any of my other cookbooks. The recipes are just "plain home cooking": no fancy ingredients, no complicated cooking techiques. However, I have never made a dish from this book that has failed to get compliments. It is a good book for beginners as well as the rest of us whose skills fall somewhere between "burns water" and cordon bleu.

76 of 81 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting! Memories of Mom in the kitchen flooded my mind. October 11, 1999

By Rebecca Brown ([e-mail])

Format:Ring-bound

I grew up watching my wonderful mother use an original copy of this cookbook. She received it as a wedding present. She still has the original....which will someday be passed on to me. The pages still bear traces of all those wonderful baking experiences I shared with mom...chocolate, butter, flour. The original got so much use,that between her learning to become the great Betty Crocker cook she became and her teaching me all she had learned, some of the pages managed to come away from the binding. I remember mentioning to mom how nice it would be if her book was in a binder. Someone must have read my mind because here it is.....the reproduction, in all it's original splendor....bound! Thanks for a wonderful, loving cookbook. Besides my copy, I have since purchase one for each of my three sisters, and one for mom as well.

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars absolutely the best! October 29, 1999

By Mary Anne Gross ([e-mail])

Format:Ring-bound

I can't really say this is a review. I got this book from my mom, who passed away in 1960. I have used the book so often that it is falling apart. I will never part from the book I got from my Mom, but, since I want to keep it as a keepsake, I decided that I need a new one, because it is the most reliable book I have ever used. I intend to use it as often as I used my Mom's original book. My only regret is that I waited so long to buy a new copy. PS., I just love this book!

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic worth owning! April 17, 2002

By Lone Star Reader

Format:Ring-bound

Please, don't let the fact that this cookbook pre-dates such modern conviences as the microwave oven and food processors drive you away from this book! There are short cuts, methods and recipes that you simply will not find anywhere else. Unlike a lot of modern cookbooks, this volume accepts the fact that not everyone is a kitchen whiz--so it explains EVERYTHING; from how to bake a chicken (time, temperature, preparation of the bird, type of pan, seasonings) to how to cook fresh vegetables (quite an education if all your mom used was canned or frozen!)

This cookbook promotes healthy eating without the guilt trip that a lot of modern cookbooks put you through. It even has suggestions of how to stock a kitchen if you are just starting out (originally for new brides, but hey, you can adapt!) I really like this cook book. Even more important--I USE this cookbook! And no, I'm not a a stay at home wife; I'm a career woman! So if it doesn't work or takes too long, I don't do it! It's a great working cookbook and a great reference cookbook--one you can pull off the shelf and use when you wonder how Mom did it! Bon appetite!

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The most useful cookbook and a family heirloom. November 3, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Ring-bound

I have searched for this cookbook for years; in garage sales, by writing to the publisher and through many other outlets. My grandmother gave my mother this cookbook as a wedding present in 1956. By then, it was already on its ninth printing. My mother first used this book to learn how to cook, then to become an excellent cook. It was always out on the counter when she was in the kitchen when I was a child. By following these recipes, success is certain. It also contains such helpful hints on the substitution of ingredients and setting a table properly. Often when I would come home from high school, my mother would call from the office and instruct me to make an entrée from it. Even for a typical sixteen-year-old who was more interested in fast cars than gastronomic delights, I was pleased that whatever recipe I chose to attempt, the instructions were so clear and correct that my family was always pleased with the results. After a few years in the college residence halls, I moved to an apartment. My mother, always worrying that her baby boy would not eat right, handed me her prized cookbook and requested that I please take good care of it. The book was nearing twenty-five years in age and her favorite recipes were easy spotted by the frayed edges. Several pages were coming out of the bindings, even the tape had worn out on some. I cherished this gift. During college and then while moving around the world with my career, I entertained friends while eating nutritious and inexpensive meals prepared using the recipes and helpful hints on color and presentation. Today, I frequently get the old cookbook out and share the pleasures of cooking with my wife.... I always think of my mother who passed away ten years ago and with this cookbook was able to please so many people and raise us children. With the reprinting of Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook, I can now retire the one with my mother's handwriting and fingerprints on so many pages, set it aside as a family heirloom. Today, I have ordered three of these cookbooks. I shall use one myself and give the others as gifts. Thank you so much for reissuing this treasure. Read more ›

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Cookbook Ever! December 26, 1999

By Michael Cerami

Format:Ring-bound

When I was young I thought this cookbook was the only one which existed. This was the only cookbook my mother ever used. So much in fact that now many pages are missing or just stuffed in the back because they came away from the binding. I have been trying to find a replacement for this cookbook for years for my own kitchen. I called Betty Crocker up years back to see if they could tell me where to get a copy and they told me to look in garage sales or used book store. Finally my mother-in-law who lives in Nebraska found a used copy in pristine condition for me at a book sale. Although I own dozens of cookbooks this is the one I come back to for the true basics of good cooking. I have owned four restaurants and have used this cookbook many a times to reference the basics. It is the greatest thing that Betty Crocker has ever done by bringing this cookbood back to print. I have ordered one as a backup for mine and one for my sister. Everyone should have one in their kitchen!